Dracula Movie Critique – Besson’s Love-Struck Reinterpretation of the Classic Horror Story is Ridiculous but Entertaining

Perhaps there is no great enthusiasm for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for polished extravagance. And yet, it has to be said: his lavishly upholstered vampire romance displays creativity and style – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, such as a scene that looks like it presents a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz embodies a witty yet careworn cleric fighting vampires – it’s surprising he never took on this role before – who ends up in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. Likewise present is the malevolent vampire count, enacted by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent similar to the voice of Gru by Steve Carell of the Despicable Me series. This is a part that he too was born to take on.

The Narrative: A Saga of Heartbreak

Here’s the premise: the count has been restlessly roaming the earth in anguish for hundreds of years since he became undead, a penalty due to his blasphemous mourning over the death of his spouse Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has been searching, searching, searching for some woman who could be the rebirth of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the lucky lady turns out to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the vampire’s estate to discuss his real estate holdings and the tiny painting of the charming Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

Besson’s Handling and Humorous Style

Besson organizes Dracula’s flashback sequence of international journeys wearing flamboyant outfits confidently, and he is not above giving us some comedy moments with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – like the count’s repeated and futile attempts to kill himself following Elisabeta’s passing, in addition to absurd moments that result after Dracula sprays himself using a particular scent in historic Florence, which makes him unavoidably attractive to females. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula is available digitally starting December 1st and for physical purchase starting the twenty-second of December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.